18 hours in the air

I am feeling so many emotions this week – disappointment probably being the most predominant. On June 22, I had to leave Kenya. The departure was unanticipated and it feels like in the blink of an eye I’ve transported back to North Carolina. The good news is that I arrived safely home and will complete the work on the PNA from IntraHealth’s Chapel Hill office. I will soon reunite with Cathy and Leigh to begin data analysis and report writing. I am excited about the writing – especially the gender components of the assessment. So, despite not physically being in Kenya in July as planned, I will carry-forward on this important piece of work for IntraHealth.

I am not happy about leaving the team in Nairobi. I feel like I am abandoning them and I am disheartened to physically disconnect myself from the work on the PNA in the field. But this is the nature of my work – spontaneity, flexibility, working with teams via Skype and email. Though it is easier to be in the field, sometimes safety trumps physical location and we have to make alternative plans. I am more determined than ever to support this team and look forward to going to the Chapel Hill office on Monday to reconnect with both the Chapel Hill and Nairobi teams!

Since returning to the US I will admit to being enthralled with reuniting with my family and friends. I’m enjoying sweet tea but really missing my Kenyan coffee (good thing I bought some Dormans to bring home)! I also miss the cooler Nairobi climate – I was greeted with 100+ temperatures in North Carolina! The actual flying time to get from Nairobi to RDU is about 18 hours but the journey is much longer if you factor in layovers and travel time to and from the airport. I had to layover in Amsterdam on my way back and while the stay in the Netherlands was very short, it was nice to walk around by the canals. It is around the time of the summer solstice so in northern Europe, it stays light out very late. At 11 pm, the sun was still up!

This is not the end of the blog! I guarantee you I have much more to say about public health and human resources for health. I also assure you that I am not deterred in the least from traveling to Kenya or other places where we do our work. I have been so motivated by the commitment and hard work by my colleagues and local collaborators in Kenya. I cannot put into words how inspired I am by the sacrifices that some people make in our field of work. There are two sides to every coin – the good and the evil – and I choose wholeheartedly in the good. I choose to undertake my role as a leader in global public health and do my best to support programs that improve the lives of families around the world. I choose to encourage and believe in the good of my fellow global citizens. And after these last three weeks in Kenya, I choose to believe in myself. I have personally come thru a lot and feel confident in not only my ability to do my work but in my ability to do it well. Though this experience has not turned out as I planned, I have learned oh so much to carry with me for the rest of my life!

Nyama Choma

Yesterday, I had my first Nyama Choma to celebrate Father’s Day with Scott and Pam. This traditional Kenyan meal is basically roasted meat. We got ribs (goat meat) that was roasted for about 45 minutes. We also ate traditional Kenyan veggies. I normally don’t like eating goat meat or any meat off the bone but Nyama Choma was fantastic! By the end, my belly was full and my hands were a little dirty but I have to say, this was delicious! It is exciting to experience these traditions. I am just happy I didn’t have to participate in slaughtering the goat.

I had actually forgotten it was Father’s Day. Ever since losing my father 10 years ago, I try and block out that holiday but this year, I couldn’t escape it. I went to church and so much of the service was about fathers. This one woman wanted to read a letter she had written to her father at the end of the service. It was beautiful. She wanted to publically thank him for all that he sacrificed for her chance of a good education. She was so eloquent, proud and by the end of her letter, not only was she crying but everyone in the church was teary-eyed. I was so happy her father was there to hear her read him that letter. I felt a twinge of sadness that I never got a chance to say anything like that to my own father because he died so suddenly. However, like this woman’s father, my dad sacrificed so much for me. I am so grateful to have had him in my life, although it was too short of a time. I like to think my dad is proud of me now – half-way to a Masters degree, traveling the world and learning new things. A santé sana Daddy!

Huduma Bora Ni Haki Yako

We are off! Data collection started this week and already, our data is rolling in thru Epi Surveyor. I love this feeling – finally deploying and using the tools we have worked so hard to perfect. If I feel this euphoric about just starting data collection, I can’t imagine how excited I’ll feel when we begin to analyze the data and make recommendations to the government of Kenya. Even more so, I can’t wait to see how this assessment will pave the way for improvements in strengthening Kenya’s health worker training and improving health outcomes for this wonderful population. You may think I am getting ahead of myself but if we don’t have our eye on the goals of our work, it is easy to get lost in the details. I am such a detail-oriented person; one thing I wanted to experience from this summer work in Kenya was to do technical work, focusing on that bigger picture. I’m experiencing it!

I have achieved a few notable things this week including learning how to set up views in Epi Info. This is a computer program that helps to analyze data. Before you can analyze it, you have to set up the files toread the data you enter into the system. This is done by coding your data sets, which is the skill I learned this week. The codes can be a little complex but I love seeing how all of the questions are linking and weaving together. We hope to have our tools completely set up in Epi Info by early next week so that data entrants can start inputting responses from our tools. I can’t believe how fast this process is moving along!

Apart from learning this nifty computer program, I got out into the field this week to support one of our teams with data collection. I visited KMTC Muranga and Muranga Hospital in Central Kenya. KMTC stands for Kenya Medical Training College. The sites were an hour-and-a-half outside of Nairobi. The drive to Muranga was beautiful and I was awed by the rolling hills of the Kenyan countryside. Once we (Cathy and I) arrived at the institution, we met up with the data collection team. They were still navigating thru the various district health officers for the go ahead to get started collecting the data. You cannot simply show up at a school and hand out questionnaires and conduct interviews. It is so important that the national and local government support your efforts and usher you thru the institutions. This also enforces the importance of collecting the data. In addition to the local government officials, we also met with the principal of the school and various directors of the hospital. Everyone was very nice and it was eye opening to go thru this “official” process of beginning data collection at Muranga.

Apart from these formalities, we had to plan for our interviews with community health workers and various community members. Many times in rural areas, community health workers deliver basic health care services to the community. Though they have limited training, they are trusted members of the community and an important aspect of healthcare delivery in developing countries. I support this cadre as they most often service populations who are unable to travel to formal healthcare facilities. And as you know by now, rural healthcare facilities are the ones facing the most severe health workforce shortages.

KMTC Muranga was buzzing students studying for finals. It was like Kenya Harry Potter – the students were dressed in uniforms but it was cold and many had scarves to keep them warm. I visited some of the classrooms and most were packed full of eager learners. This facility was obviously beyond capacity because one “classroom” was a tent. There were a dozen or so desks and some benches situated on top of a dirt floor. A flip chart stood in for the instructor board. Glancing thru some of the early responses, I was not surprised that students felt that the facilities were not up to par at this site.

I want to share with you my favorite thing about Muranga. “Huduma Bora Ni Haki Yako”, which means “You have the right to be served”. This was posted all over the site and I loved being reminded that access to healthcare and treatment are a basic human right. So many people are sticking their necks out to ensure this right is respected in Kenya, including our team of data collectors for the PNA (enjoy the picture those of you who are asking I post more photos). I applaud these colleagues who are doing such a great job supporting IntraHealth’s work in Kenya with the PNA. A santé sana!

Now, if only the refs at the World Cup would not have jipped the US team of their third goal!

Buzz! World Cup and Abortion

Have you been watching the World Cup? If not, get on board folks, this is the ultimate global even! I heard more countries are registered with FIFA than with the UN. I goggled this and in fact, FIFA as 208 member countries whereas the UN has 192. I am not a football buff but after a few days of hearing sporadic cheering on the Nairobi streets and passing by television screens literally buzzing with excitement, I had to get in on the action. While I don’t care for the constant buzzing of the horns, I appreciate the lively and often dramatic commentary here on Kenyan television. It is pretty neat to be on the continent for this event!

Tomorrow we go to the field for data collection. These last few days of training our data collectors has been filled with last minute logistics, organizing the teams and ensuring our ducks are in a row before departing for the event tomorrow. We have 7 teams dispersing all over Kenya from Mombasa to Eldoret to Kisumu. We’ve heard from our data collectors how excited they are to participate in this assessment and receive “international” training for the PNA. This enthusiasm and commitment are so important because I am certain each team will face many challenges for the next 2+ weeks of data collection. We’ve done our best to prepare them and I can’t wait to see how it all plays out. The big debrief will be July 3, when all the teams come together to discuss how it went. I hope to learn what pieces of this process worked well and what didn’t so that I can take these lessons learned with me as I am involved in future assessments – though I think I’ll never participate in one quite like this one!

I am learning new things before we set out on this adventure. This includes Epi Info so I can help with the data analysis phase. It is really interesting to see how so much data, both qualitative and quantitative, are entered into a system and analyzed. This will certainly help me with my fall classes that delve into M&E and Research Methods!

Apart from work, there is a lot going on in Kenya. As I understand it, the country is revising their Constitution and the process is very interesting. The big vote is in August and most everyone I have talked to have been interested in participating in the vote. I’ve even seen copies of the draft Constitution in the back of taxi cabs. Several pieces on the table for revision are very controversial and there was even a rally Sunday night, in which 2 explosions occurred, killing five and injuring many others. I’m still learning about the revisions, some that concern land and the court system, but the most interesting to me is the proposed change in the law regarding abortion. Currently, abortion in Kenya is illegal unless a doctor confirms a woman’s life is in danger. Here lies a problem in that there are not enough doctors, especially in rural health centers. Recognizing that the health workforce shortage is contributing to maternal mortality in this manner, the new draft Constitution states that other cadres of health workers such as nurses could also sign off approving an abortion if a woman’s life is in danger. This draft Constitution in Kenya certainly offers an alternative in how the delicate issue of abortion and the challenge of human resources for health can merge to reduce maternal mortality. Ideally, abortion would not be illegal but this is a step. No matter where you stand on abortion, this change in the draft Constitution is a hotly debated issue in Kenya, especially among many of the conservative religious groups in the country. There have been rumors swirling that abortion will be legalized due to misinterpretations of the draft document. It will be interesting to see what happens in August and I pray that the vote goes smoothly.

I’ll leave you with just a few other observations on what I miss from home and what I can live without:

- I do not miss television.

- I do miss sleep.

- I don’t miss any foods from home – Kenyan food is yummy!

- I do miss free time! I’ll never have time to read all the books I brought with me (although I did finish Girl with the Dragon Tattoo).

- I do miss Global Health Council this week but I’m sending my colleagues who are presenting good vibes from Kenya.

- I don’t miss the hot weather NC right now. Nairobi is nice, even cool this time of year!

- I really miss my family and my dog!

Birthday Safari!

Everyone should be so lucky to have a birthday safari and I will never forget my 31st birthday celebration in Kenya. My trip to the Masai Mara this weekend has been so magical – let me share with you the details!

We left out of Nairobi’s Wilson airport Saturday for a 45-minute flight to the Serena land strip in the Masia Mara. This was my first time every being in a plane that landed on dirt strip. The “airport” looked more like a bus stop. A vehicle picked us up and we were off to our lodge, which is set up on a hill overlooking the mara. The view was breathtaking and you could see giraffe and gazelles grazing over the savannah.

The Masai are the tribes people that live in this part of the world (more on them and why they should be in the NBA later) and mara is the name given to the land because there are a lot of bushes speckled about. This differs from the nearby Serengeti in Tanzania has more of a savannah landscape.

We relaxed by the pool and read our books for a while, a much welcome change from the insane work schedule. Around 4:30 we took our first game drive with Sampson, our faithful guide. We saw loads of gazelle and other grazers. We saw giraffe, elephants, wildebeests, zebras, warthogs, baboons and beautiful birds. Pictures can’t capture the magnificence of seeing these animals cohabiting in their natural habitat. The mara is hilly and you could just round a curve and see hundreds of animals eating, playing and running. I am always stunned at the peacefulness and intrigue I feel when “in the wild” in Africa.

One very neat part of this game drive was our trip across the border into Tanzania. I’ve never left a country without my passport and though I was only in Tanzania a few minutes, it was really neat to step foot across the border without going thru customs. I even got a picture of my literally straddling the border.

After dinner, the Masai warriors gave a dance presentation. They are known for their colorful red wraps, beautiful jewelry and inhuman jumping abilities. The warriors sing and chant, encouraging each other to jump with excitement. It honestly looked like some of these guys were on a trampoline. I’ve never seen anyone jump so high.

Post dinner entertainment, we joined the other safari goers to watch the England vs. USA World Cup match. Most fans here were pulling from England but Cathy, Leigh and I were representing the US proudly. Since the World Cup is such a global event and taking place in South Africa, it is easy and exciting to get swept into the spirit of football. Last night’s match, as you know, ended up tied 1-1.

Before crawling into bed I heard a horrible snoring. I was thinking how loud our neighbors must be but after some investigating I learned this was no human snoring. Warthog maybe? It was too dark to tell.

Sunday morning, my birthday, we woke early for a 6:30 am game drive. The difference from the game drive the day before was this was the ideal time to see the cats. We were not disappointed. A pack of lions walked right beside our car - literally. Sampson said they must not have made a kill the night before because they were up moving around and looking for food. These were of course female lions because they do the hunting for the males. After the females kill their prey, the males get to eat it first – typical. Around the lions we also saw hyenas. I can’t help but think of Disney’s the Lion King. Here I was seeing Nala in real life, just a few feet from me.

After driving around a bit, Sampson asked if we’d like to take a walk along the river with a Masai warrior. Sure, why not. Our warrior, Dixon, led us by the river where we saw crocs and loads of hippos (in the water). Next, we came upon tables with waiters and damn if we didn’t have breakfast by the river with the hippos. We also had champagne. It felt unreal and amazing. The hippos were snorting and bobbing up and down in the water while we dined on omelets and fresh mango. Happy birthday indeed.

Leigh treated me to a pedicure in the lodge spa and what girl doesn’t love to be pampered! After lunch, I heard singing and drumming – the whole staff came out to sing happy birthday to me. They even made me a beautiful cake. The whole restaurant was clapping and strangers became my safari friends as they greeted me with happy birthday salutations.

We heard that the great migration had started but we left before seeing any of the herds make their way into the Mara. There is a lot of work to do this week and I feel extremely confident in my ability to help our team meet our goals. After all, I’m another year wiser now.

Machokos

This has been such a busy week training the data collectors. I generally work 10-12 hour days and get home in time for a nice dinner with my “Kenyan family”. We’ve eaten such fascinating things such as roast chicken and mash potatoes. Very exotic I know! Actually we have had traditional Kenyan food (eaten with your hand) in our home and soon I will post some pictures of our meal Wednesday night. Since my birthday is Sunday, Cathy and Leigh joined us for an early celebration. Dinner was excellent and I even got a pink cake with sprinkles!

Yesterday, we took our data collectors and PNA tools to two training sites/hospitals to test them. We were looking for kinks in skip logic, questions the interviewees didn’t understand and other parts of the instruments and process that just didn’t work. Also, we tried to get a general feel for how this process will flow as well as how long it will take to administer each of the tools. The day was a huge success! My site was Machokos, about 70 kilometers out of Nairobi or an hour’s drive. The teams divided up and tackled testing the tools. I was so proud of them – they were so on top of it! This is either a reflection of our stellar training or the fact that these data collectors are super bright and dedicated to improving healthcare in Kenya. I think definitely the latter.

I shadowed a data collector who interviewed a clinical preceptor in the pediatric ward of Mochokos Hospital. I have such a soft spot for babies and children. It was heartbreaking to see that ward full. There were twin beds set up and about four children per bed. Most children were there for pneumonia, malaria or other diseases. The mothers all sat with their children and I was told they do not leave the whole time the child is in the hospital – even to sleep. There are no cots at the hospital for them to use to rest either. Since there is a healthcare worker shortage, the mothers need to stay with their children to ensure they are ok and to alert the medical staff if there is a problem. This was a good hospital by many standards in the developing world. However, you can be as equipped and organized as you like but if you do not have a sufficient health workforce, there is a gap that cannot be filled in providing quality healthcare services. As I was looking at these beautiful children I was reminded that this is why I’m here! I have such empathy and compassion for the struggles these mothers and children are facing, which motivate me to study and work as hard and efficiently as possible. I am reminded how fortunate I am to be in a career that I love and most importantly, that helps vulnerable populations in so many parts of the world. As I was leaving Mochokos a beautiful two or three year old little girl was sitting in her mother’s lap and waved to me. I waved back and she cracked a small smile. It is so easy to have stressful times at work and school – I will have to draw on experiences like this one at Mochokos to give me strength to carry-on.

Inside and outside of training institutions and health clinics, Africa and the world are buzzing with the start of the World Cup. The games start Friday and I have a feeling it will be exciting to be in this part of the world for this event. Go Team USA! I’ll be cheering from the Masai Mara this weekend. Cathy, Leigh and I are flying out for safari on Saturday morning. I’ll wake up on the morning of my 31st birthday and experience a game drive with lions, zebras, cheetahs, elephants, giraffes and more. Sounds like Kenya.

A week and the Vice President follows me to Kenya!

This week, VP Biden and his family are in Kenya – their pit stop before going to the World Cup in South Africa. On his agenda is meeting with the president and other top government officials. Also on the agenda is holding up traffic. I have heard horror stories about the Nairobi “jams” and I’m hoping this week they are worse because of Biden’s visit. If this is normal than I am in for a long summer of sitting in the car smelling exhaust fumes and not thinking about how bad I have to go to the bathroom.

Work is going very well. We are training about 40 data collectors who will be going out into the field to use our PNA tools. I thought I’d share with you some estimated numbers about our data collection. Our protocol calls for 480 client exit interviews; 48 school director interviews; 48 facility audits; 24 student focus groups; 384 training coordinator assessments; 384 faculty member assessments; 720 student assessments; 48 clinical preceptor interviews; 7 regulatory body/association interviews and 2 interviews with Ministry Officials. That is just one Phase. No wonder I am working 12-hour days! After we collect the data we’ll launch into data analysis. Holy cow!

I am starting to think about what data I will use for my Masters Paper next spring. I want to write about family planning so I can easily pull out the data just focusing on family planning training. I will also be working with team to launch Kitui Training Center as a center of excellence for family planning and reproductive health in Kenya. Right now I’m focused on the PNA – it is massive!

I am so impressed with the participants in the training. They are a bright group and many are Masters students like myself. I am also enjoying trying on my shoes as a trainer. I don’t mind getting up in front of people talking as long as I know what I am presenting. Going thru this experience is highlighting the skills in which I am good. I’m extremely organized and pay attention to little details. I have the ability to pull back and look at the big picture and not get lost in those little details. I think it is important to recognize where we excel as individual workers and where we need to improve. My goodness I’m far from perfect and have so much to learn. I appreciate the guidance I am receiving from my colleagues about this huge process of going thru an assessment of this nature. I learn all day – at the training and at the dinner table!

Speaking of learning, I wonder if I’ll ever get this Swahili down! It is so hard to learn another language that is completely different from your own. In Swahili, the words for “who” and “you” are so similar, you almost miss it! A few words I’ve mastered are “amani” which means peace; “nanazi” which means pineapple; and “maji” which means water.

Now another one – la la salama, which means rest well. Goodnight friends!

Beads and a Giraffe Kiss!

Today has been one of the most fun days – I’m not sure I’ll be able to top it. So here is a run down of my adventures with Cathy and Leigh…

We started the morning at a market that was set up at a local hotel. I didn’t buy anything but the coolest thing there was jewelry made by a local Kenyan. It was all made from spoons, forks and knives and let me tell you how interesting this stuff turned out – very creative! I also learned the word for market in Swahili is Soko. As proof of entrance to the market we all got Soko Soko stamps on our arms. I’m branded now for Kenya shopping!

Our next stop was the Kazuri bead factory in the Nairobi suburb of Karen. I have coveted Kazuri beads for years and going to the market was like seeing little pieces of heaven come to life. Kazuri means “small and beautiful” in Swahili and these beads are gorgeous. They are actually hand-painted pottery. More inspiring than the colorful jewelry is the fact that the factory employees mostly single mothers and provides them with employment and healthcare (including family planning – yay). I was introduced to one woman who has nearly worked there since the factory opened in 1975! In public health we learn a lot about programs that give women jobs to increase their livelihood and quality of women. I was so happy to see these women making the Kenyan beads I love so much.

Cathy, Leigh and I spent an hour in the shop trying on and contemplating which small and beautiful beads we’d bring home. I’ve attached a picture of me with my purchases. My friends and family should love me – as should the Kenyan economy.

On our way out of Karen we stopped at the Giraffe Centre. I absolutely love animals and feeding and kissing the giraffes was the experience of a lifetime. They are beautiful animals and words can’t describe how cool it was to be interacting with them so closely. (Picture attached) Last time I was in Kenya I was up close and personal with a cheetah and this time a giraffe – what is next?!

The afternoon ended with yummy lunch at a vegetarian Indian lunch. I love Indian food and Africa has some of the best. With a full belly and empty wallet, I headed home.

Tonight Pam will be coming home and I just can’t wait. This is really just a wonderful day.

So what else has been going on other than all of this funness? You do remember I am here working? I had my first day in the office on Friday and boy did we jump right in to work. The training for the assessment is next week and we worked tirelessly discussing the tools (remember those) and how best to go about training the 40 some odd data collectors. It will be busy next week for sure but I was enthralled with how well the Kenya team and the three of us from Chapel Hill meshed. This is a HUGE project and we seemingly jumped right into effortless teamwork.
Here are a few other Kenya observations…

· I love the yogurt – best so far has been Guava yogurt!
· The slang for Shillings is “bob”. It’s fun! “Have you got 100 bob?” (that is just over a dollar)
· Nairobi traffic is rough. I-40 at 5:00pm is much better.
· Kenyans are so fun! I had my dinner table up dancing last night and we laughed and carried on!
· My friend Chinelo is here and we got to talk – can’t wait to see her and I’m even happier to hear she’ll be returning to Chapel Hill in the fall for one more semester!

Sorry this is a long post – there is just so much LIFE here and I wanted to share it with you! I wish I could bottle it all up and bring it home in July!

PS I've been trying to post pics for half an hour - will try again later!

Bueno!

Today has been such a relaxing day in Nairobi. I didn’t go to the office but did catch up on a few emails. I also read my book and watched some television. They have mostly news channels but I brought some DVDs with me, which will keep me entertained. Lost Season 3 anyone!

Isaac, Pam’s friend who is staying here as well, walked with me to the shopping center so I could change some money and pick up a few things from the market. I got some yogurt, crackers and my favorite chocolate bars – Kinder Bueno! I can eat them without feeling guilty because our roundtrip walk to the shopping center was just over an hour. In Kenya, this is not far but for me, I thought it was a bit of a distance for the market. I guess I need to get into my Africa frame of mind – or out of my American frame of mind. I remember when I lived in France, my walk to school was about 20 minutes and even longer if I wanted to go to the center of town. Bring on the weight loss! Although if I keep eating the muffins the housekeeper made this afternoon – yummy zucchini muffins from scratch – I’ll need to do a lot more runs to the market!

I used Isaac’s phone to call my mom. Our 7-minute conversation was about 140 Kenyan Shillings or around $2. Not too bad. I hope to get a SIM card for my phone tomorrow and some credit so I can call home once or twice a week for a short talk with mom.

Speaking of phone calls, I called the office to ask when everyone usually arrived to work. They said 7:30. Oh I am not in Chapel Hill anymore! Early wake up calls for me this summer!

Before I sign off, I’d like to wish my cousin Richard a Happy Birthday! Richard, you rock!

Pictures of my candy bars and my room hopefully downloaded. Enjoy!

Finally in Kenya! So happy!

I've made it safely to Nairobi! I wasn't sure I was going to make it as planned. When I landed in Amsterdam, they didn't have a gate for us so we had to wait on the runway and then deplane using stairs. Then we had to wait for a bus to take us to the terminals. When I finally got to the terminals, of course my gate was an estimated 15 minute walk away. I gathered all my strength and ran like I was on the Amazing Race. If you were in Schipol Airport yesterday, I was that weird girl running thru the airport! Thankfully, I just made the flight. I was a bit disappointed not to get my yummy chocolate in the Amsterdam airport but I'll be back next month.

I did manage to get some sleep on the flights. Just a tad on the flight to Amsterdam and more on the flight to Nairobi. I did a bit of reading, a bit of movie watching and a bit of just sitting. Well a lot of sitting. I met a few interesting folks but the most interesting and inspiring was Charles. He is from Sudan. He was flying to Uganda to see his family. Charles is one of the Lost Boys of Sudan who lived in a camp starting from age 3 because of the war in Sudan. The UN arranged for him to live in the US and he now lives in Boston and works at Costco. He was separated from his family but amazingly found them 14 or 15 years later! He says now he goes to visit them and each time meets new cousins. Reflecting on how much I have enjoyed my time with my mom the past few weeks, I can't imagine living for so long not even knowing if she were alive or where she lived. I hope Charles is having a happy reunion in Uganda this week!

Another miraculous event was that my bags arrived. I was prepared for them not to make it since I barely made it to the plane but KLM surpassed my expectations. When I landed in Nairobi, it was a breeze getting thru customs, getting my bags and the car was there to take me home. I am staying with my friend and colleague Pam and her home here in Nairobi is lovely. Beautiful. I have my own room and bathroom and the house is really spacious yet cozy. Since Pam and her husband are on holiday at the coast, I was greeted by her other house guest Issac, who is from the Kisumu area of Kenya. Issac helped me get my bags to my room and after a few minutes of unpacking and checking email, I crashed! It was easy to sleep - not only was I exhausted but it was raining, which I love.

So here I am, full day number 1 of my adventure. I got 10 hours of much needed rest and a lovely shower to wash off the plane. I feel so very blessed to be here and I know it my bones this is going to be such a fulfilling experience for me. :)

En Route!

I am officially on the way to Nairobi! My journey has so far taken me to Detroit (where I am currently blogging in the Delta Lounge). Next I will take an 8 hour flight to Amsterdam, followed by another 8 hour flight to Nairobi. I'm happy to be reading a good book, which I plan to devour over the next 20 hours. Has anyone else read Girl with the Dragon Tatoo? I got this book for Christmas from my Uncle Stevie and I'm just now getting to it.

I will admit, I have not been thinking about work this past weekend. All I wanted to do was spend time with my family and friends and I did just that! Mom and I got to relax a lot and play with the dogs. We also visited with cousins on Sunday after church where we all enjoyed each other's company outside in the sunshine. In addition, I got to see some of my dearest friends growing up - a relaxing dinner with Becky and a quick, spontaneous visit with Fairley. I am so lucky that my roots take me back to a town where so many of my closest friends' families still live. Becky and I were commenting that we are so glad we still keep in touch and how thankful we are that we really did have an idealistic childhood in Oxford. My dad always said for me to never forget where I came from - I certainly havn't Daddy! I hope you have been smiling down from heaven the past dozen or so years as I have been taking journeys like this one to Kenya.

Speaking of Oxford, I'd just like to say once again that I had such a great time at home with my mom. Thank you so much mom for all you did for me during my stay. You are so awesome! How did I get so lucky to get you for a mom?

So for now, it's just me, the computer, the book and a glass of wine to relax before this long journey. Please keep me in your thoughts and cross your fingers for no Icelandic volcanic erruptions.